Friday 25 August 2017 18.43 EDT
First published on Friday 25 August 2017 17.08 EDT

Josh Onomah struck a 64th-minute equaliser to earn Aston Villa a point from a full-blooded Championship clash with Bristol City at Ashton Gate. The on-loan Tottenham midfielder’s well-struck shot from 25 yards took a deflection off Marlon Pack to leave the City goalkeeper, Frank Fielding, grasping at thin air.

Four minutes earlier the hosts had gone in front. Villa failed to clear a free-kick on the edge of their box, awarded for a foul by John Terry on Bobby Reid, and Jamie Paterson pounced to score with a low left-footed shot from 12 yards.

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City were unlucky when a chip from the right by Eros Pisano bounced back off the inside of the far post on 76 minutes. But it was a fair result to a game played at a frantic pace by two teams looking to be positive from first whistle to last.

Steve Bruce, the Aston Villa manager, was pleased with his players’ response to falling behind and said: “The vultures gathered sooner than I expected this season, which is perhaps a sign of the times, but tonight we have sent our fans home happy. They have seen some young players giving everything for the club. It wasn’t a classic performance, but the lads have rolled their sleeves up and got something from the game. For me, that has been missing for far too long.”

Villa began brightly and took only five minutes to get a shot on target, Andre Green’s powerful effort from inside the box parried by Fielding. City took 10 minutes longer to test Sam Johnstone and then Paterson’s shot from distance was comfortably dealt with by the Villa keeper.

As the home side began to press, Famara Diedhiou forced another save from Johnstone with a shot from a narrow angle.

The best first-half chance fell to Villa’s Ahmed Elmohamady on 41 minutes when he found space on the right of the penalty area but Fielding advanced quickly to block his shot. The visitors finished the half on top, with Conor Hourihane having a shot blocked and Fielding doing well to intercept a dangerous Elmohamady cross.

Terry and Chris Samba had been rock-solid at the back for Villa but Samba failed to appear for the second half, his place taken by James Bree. Villa, though, continued where they had left off as Onomah forced a low save from Fielding.

Then came a goal for each side in quick succession, starting when Paterson rounded off a scramble in the box with a powerful finish. Onomah immediately hit back and the 3,000-plus Villa fans in the 21,542 crowd reacted boisterously.

Pisano was left holding his head when what looked like a cross found the inside of a post but Villa remained a threat throughout and neither side deserved to lose. City had a loud penalty appeal rejected for handball against Terry in the second half but had to be content with their second draw in three home games.

Villa’s latest recruit Robert Snodgrass was signed too late to make the first appearance of his season-long loan from West Ham.

Kamil Grosicki produced a scintillating first-half display as Hull City ended their three-match losing run with a comprehensive 4-0 home win against Bolton Wanderers. The Poland international set up the first two goals and scored the third as Bolton were blown away at the KCom Stadium.

Grosicki, who has been linked with a move away from Hull in the transfer window, crossed for his fellow forwards Adama Diomande and Jarrod Bowen to score before making it 3-0 after29 minutes. Bowen added a fourth late on as Bolton remain winless on their return to the Championship.

After a dull opening 10 minutes, the game livened up with a crunching tackle from David Meyler on Jem Karacan that earned the Hull midfielder the game’s first yellow card. Karacan stayed down and came off five minutes later, but not before Hull had taken a 13th-minute lead.

Michael Hector’s terrific tackle stopped a Bolton attack and sent the hosts on the break. Grosicki surged down the left before crossing low for Diomande to fire home on his first start of the season.

Hull doubled the lead in the 19th minute and Grosicki was again the architect. This time he got to the byline and stood up a cross for Bowen to head in his third goal of the campaign. Grosicki then got in on the act himself. Reece Burke lost possession near the halfway line and Sebastian Larsson released Grosicki down the left. He cut inside Dorian Dervite and slotted in low to Mark Howard’s right.

Bolton looked vulnerable every time Hull broke. A cross from Will Buckley was plucked out of the air by McGregor and seconds later the wing-back Ola Aina was down the other end delivering a cross to the back post that Diomande could not direct on target.

Bolton switched to a four-man defence for the second half and managed to prevent the flow of attacks but did not offer much of a threat going forward. Hull were in cruise control and were able to bring on Stephen Kingsley and Jon Toral, both newly signed, for their debuts. Grosicki left to a standing ovation with five minutes left but Bowen still had time to race clear and add a fourth.